They've survived the end of their universe.... But now, nearly three hundred years after the time of Ragnarok—the death battle of the gods—humankind faces a new and potentially fatal trial. The balance between Law and Chaos has long been maintained by the rulers of Bearn, but with the current king dying, a new keeper of neutrality must be found among his heirs. And with an unknown enemy bent on destroying all who stand in line to the throne, King Kohleran has no choice but to decree that anyone with a claim to the crown must take the Test of the Staves. What the testing reveals, however, is the need to carry the search beyond Bearn. But all the king's envoys disappear without a trace, and deciding that desperate times call for desperate actions, a small band forms in secret to seek out the last possible heir. But can the king's granddaughter, a knight in training, an apprentice bard, a young and untested Renshai warrior, and thief who may as easily prove their betrayer as their friend survive the perils of the wild, and enemies equipped with magical powers in a world long bereft of spell casters? And if any of them actually reach their goal, can they bring the one remaining untested heir back to Bearn alive?